A Thessian Christmas
by ReavansMask
Summary: Ever since Mindoir, Ashara Shepard has never celebrated Christmas. This year though, that's going to change. Christmas fluff and romance with Shepard and Liara.
1. Chapter 1

Meeting Commander Shepard has led to a lot of unusual experiences for Doctor Liara T'Soni. She has travelled through a lost Mass Relay, gained and relinquished the mantle of the Shadow Broker, and spoken with a living prothean. In spite of all that however, she never thought she would return from giving a guest lecture at Kosia University and have to ask the question, "Ashara, why is there a tree in the middle of our living room?"

The delicious aroma of baked goods precedes Shepard as she emerges from the kitchen carrying a tray of cookies. "Hey, Liara." She smiles broadly, setting the tray down on the coffee table before leaning over to give her wife a quick kiss.

Liara returns the gesture, but keeps it brief, her puzzlement temporarily overcoming her affection. "Hello, love." She gestures in the direction of the 3 meter tall green plant dominating their living room. "You know I don't mind your interest in gardening, but this seems somewhat excessive."

Her bondmate gives her a look that radiates innocence while chewing on a cookie. "Wasn't me. Blame Ashley."

"Shepard, that raises more questions than it answers. Why would Captain Williams have deposited a tree in our house?"

"It's a Christmas tree."

"Christmas?" Liara has heard humans use that word a few times before but she never found out what it means.

"It's a human holiday," Shepard explains. "It's coming up in a few weeks."

The student of alien cultures in her is intrigued. "What is its significance."

"In theory, it's religious, the same one Ashley believes in. A lot of other people celebrate it though. You put up a tree, give gifts, bake cookies."

She offers up one of said cookies to Liara and the asari munches away on it, letting its sugary warmth dissipate her annoyance at the intrusive foliage. "I have never seen you observe it before."

"I used to." Shepard's voice becomes sadder and more distant. "When I grew up, on Mindoir, it was my favorite day of the year. My sisters and I, we'd look forward to it for a month, decorating the house, trying to guess what Mom and Dad had bought for us, that kind of thing."

Liara leads Shepard to sit down next to her on the couch and puts an arm around her wife, resting her head on her shoulder. The human plants a light kiss on her forehead and continues, "After I lost them, I could never get my heart into it again. It was a holiday we celebrated as a family and I didn't have one anymore."

"I am so sorry." She leans up and catches Ashara's lips for a tender moment, trying to soothe the old wound with her touch.

"Now, though, with us building our own family…" She runs a loving hand over Liara's stomach. At month three of a fifteen month pregnancy, the information broker isn't even close to showing, but the gesture is still a reminder of the daughter they're going to have. "It makes it easier to think about those days. When Ash and I were talking last week, I mentioned there was nothing like a Christmas tree on Thessia and I guess she decided to send me a present." She shakes her head. "Quite a little feat, shipping a pine tree halfway across the galaxy."

"And is that all right? Celebrating it again?", Liara asks gently. Though Shepard has come a long way in dealing with her grief over all those that she lost, her wife still worries for the former Spectre sometimes.

"It is." She gives Liara another kiss. "It doesn't hurt as much as it used to, and I'd like to share those traditions with you. Maybe start some of our own too."

Liara caresses her wife's hand. "I would like that as well. Living here, you have certainly adapted to many of my people's customs. Although," she gestures in the direction of the tree, "This does seems like a somewhat untidy one. There are already needles on the floor."

"Aw, it's all part of the fun." Shepard offers her the tray. "Just have another cookie and don't worry about it."

* * *

On Christmas morning, Shepard had awakened before her bondmate, a not-unusual occurrence. Even after leaving the Alliance, she tends to get up on something closer to a military schedule, while Liara enjoys the more leisurely routine of an academic. Having slipped out of bed without waking Liara up, Ashara slides into a pair of thin, black pajamas. The Thessian year is slightly shorter than an earth one, meaning that human holidays fall at variable times here, and this year, Christmas has come in the late spring.

Creeping down the stairs quietly, she pours herself a glass of orange juice and takes a seat on the coach beneath the tree while she waits for Liara to wake up. The scent of pine and the glow of the lights fill her senses, pulling her thoughts far away from her Thessian home…

_Her older sister, Jessica, normally so elegant, chasing the dog around the tree when it made off with a mouthful of the cookies she'd spent hours baking. Little Eliza, always oddly determined not to tear the paper, unwrapping each gift so slowly that Ashara had once yanked one away and ripped it open herself. Mom and Dad, keeping up the ruse of Santa Claus three years after all of the kids had stopped believing._

In early years after the batarian attack on Mindoir, the pain of those memories had been too much. Most of the year, Shepard hadn't let her grief rob her of her friendly, outgoing personality, but the holidays had been harder. The first year in the Alliance, she'd gone down Christmas Eve to the pistol range, shooting until her hands trembled, trying to reduce the whole galaxy down to a target so she didn't have to think about anything else. For years after that, she'd spent the day in her quarters, buried in paperwork or practicing her biotics, headphones turned up to drown out the other soldiers drinking and laughing outside her door. By the time she was assigned to the _Normandy_, she'd gotten better at blocking it out. Christmas was just another day in space, one she didn't let have any of its old meaning for her.

Now, though, it feels different. Shepard will always keep a place in her heart for the people that she lost, but at last, she can also look forward. She has a wonderful wife, and next year, they'll have a daughter. Soon enough, there'll be pleading for an unreasonable number of presents, tearing open gifts Christmas morning, playing in the empty boxes... A smile covers her face just as she hears the sound of footsteps on the stairs.

"Merry Christmas, Liara." Wrapped in a dark blue silk robe, her wife is carrying a box covered in black and red paper. The N-7 colors; never let it be said the asari isn't detail-oriented.

Liara sits down next to her on the couch, placing her arms around Shepard. "Merry Christmas, love."

Shepard leans in, planting a long, lingering kiss on her lover's mouth. Her hand brushes lightly over her cheek, the skin so smooth to the touch. "With you here, it is."

"I am glad." She picks up the box and hands it to Shepard. "I am afraid I do not have much experience with this holiday. I hope that this is an appropriate gift."

"I'm sure I'll love it." She rips open the paper to reveal a plain, white box. Opening it, she looks inside at a small, metal ship replica. "Cool." Pulling it out of the box, she sees it's an Alliance frigate, an older class of ship they don't make anymore. "I don't recognize the design."

"Look on the side."

Turning the model over in her hands, she sees the words, "SSV Perseus," written on along the bow. The ship that rescued her from Mindoir.

"It is a custom model. I may not be the Shadow Broker anymore, but I can still pull a few strings. After all," Liara laughs, "It is hard enough to keep up with which ones you already own. This seemed a safer solution."

"God, Liara. I love it." She peppers her wife's face with a series of small kisses. "I just hope my present lives up." She reaches over to the coffee table and, picking up a green box, hands it to Liara.

The asari opens it carefully, her delicate fingers peeling back the paper and drawing forth a small gold necklace with a set of deep red gemstones inlaid along its base. Her wife looks up at Ashara, her eyes shining "It is quite beautiful." She runs her fingers along the inlays. "These stones are particularly striking."

"They're from Therum." She can see the memories of their meeting replaying themselves behind her wife's eyes and Shepard takes the jewelry from her. "Stand up. Let me put it on you."

The asari gets to her feet and Shepard comes up behind her, unfastening the necklace and placing it on her wife, adding a series of kisses along the back of her neck as she does. Stepping back around to face Liara, she can see the love shining in her big blue eyes. "How does it look?"

"Absolutely gorgeous," Shepard beams. "Just like you." Pulling Liara into a kiss, she catches the asari's lips with her own even as her hand drops down to undo the belt of the blue robe. Her hands slide beneath the silk, dropping the garment to the carpeted floor and Liara is naked beneath it, clad now in nothing but the necklace.

Ashara steps backwards and Liara draws herself up, striking a seductive pose for her lover. "Is this another Christmas tradition I was unaware of?"

"Not exactly." She shoots her wife a devilish grin. "Think of it as a second part to your present. That necklace is staying on until I've made you come so many times you can't think straight."

* * *

**So, I know I still have a few other projects to work on, but I wanted to write a Christmas story. For those reading 4****th**** Life, this falls in-between chapters 22 and 23, but it pretty much stands on its own as well.**


	2. Chapter 2

"Think of it as a second part to your present. That necklace is staying on until I've made you come so many times you can't think straight." Those words, and the smoldering look in her wife's pale green eyes when she says them send a shudder of anticipation through Liara. The commander has a powerful intensity when she sets her mind to something, and the knowledge that Liara's pleasure is her focus right now makes the asari's body hum with anticipation.

"In the interest of fairness," Liara smiles, "I should inform you that I did not get you an additional present."

Ashara looks over her naked body, licking her lips. "That's okay. You've indulged me on the oddities of this holiday. Now, let me indulge you." She pulls Liara in for a long, lingering kiss, her finger tracing slowly along the tops of Liara's breasts where the skin meets the metal of the necklace, the touch causing Liara's body to shiver with wanting.

Tangling her hand in Shepard's dirty blonde hair, Liara signals her approval by guiding her wife's head lower. Ashara's breath is warm on the skin of the asari's breasts, and she closes her mouth over the small blue nub of Liara's nipple. It's already erect with excitement, and when a wet tongue flicks over it, Liara let out a small moan. She arches her back into the contact and when Shepard pulls lightly on the nipple with her teeth, the pressure causes an ache to begin to stir between Liara's legs. Before she was with Shepard, she'd never gotten much pleasure from her breasts, paying little attention to them when she touched herself, but that had been her mistake. Ashara can drive her crazy just by pleasuring them.

Shepard switches her mouth to the other nipple while her agile fingers pick up where it left off, rolling the slick tip between her thumb and forefinger. Liara's grip on her wife's head tightens and she moans, louder than before. Shepard lets out a satisfied purr around her breast, clearly enjoying the sounds she's coaxing from Liara.

Her kisses trail gradually down the smooth skin of Liara's torso, and as they approach her sex, the asari's knees start to buckle beneath her. She can almost feel what's coming next and when Shepard drops to her knees, her hot breath on Liara's clit, the anticipation almost makes her collapse.

Shepard looks up at her, the light of the tree reflecting in her green eyes, her smile all playful affection. "Don't worry, Liara." She places a wet kiss on the head of the asari's prominent clitoris, causing her hips to buck against her bondmate's mouth. "I'm getting there."

* * *

Ashara's strong hands grip the soft blue swell of Liara's ass and she runs her tongue over her entrance. The first time she did this, she'd been surprised. Compared to a human woman, Liara is sweeter and less musky, but there's no taste in the galaxy that she prefers. She dips inside, getting more of the delicious flavor, and there's plenty for her to enjoy. Her wife is delightfully wet, and it's starting to affect her too. She can feel her own clit start throbbing against her pajamas, but she pushes aside the desire for now.

She switches her mouth to her bondmate's clit, and when her tongue covers the hard point, it's all she can do to keep Liara from falling on top of her. "Let me give you a hand with that," she offers. Blue light flares and a biotic field wraps around Liara, supporting the asari's trembling body.

With a thought, she moves the field over her wife's skin, curling it around her breasts and along the folds of her crest, massaging her with tingling energy. Liara writhes with delight, and Shepard takes her clit back into her mouth, running her tongue up and down the length of the shaft. She keeps the rhythm slow and steady, freeing her to play with her biotics. Her fields caress the length of Liara's arms, teasing her bare skin, affectionately brushing her cheek.

"Goddess, Ashara," her wife pants, her need evident. "I, I…"

She can't seem to find the words and Shepard teases her a little. "Did you want something?"

"Faster," she chokes out. "So close."

"I can tell," Shepard grins. She shifts her attention away from her biotics, letting them focus on holding Liara up while she takes the asari's clit into her mouth, speeding up her strokes. Liara's hips press against her, her craving pushed almost past the point of no return. Ashara runs her tongue more firmly over the bud, and when she does, Liara comes for her, wetness covering the human's lips. She licks it away enthusiastically but then she resumes what she was doing, keeping up a steady pattern of strokes and when she hears a throaty moan escape Liara's lips, she manifests the tiniest flicker of biotic energy on her tongue. The asari screams her name, coming a second time, her thighs clenching around Ashara's head.

Shepard stands up, cleaning her lips with her tongue and lets her biotics dissipate, her wife collapsing into her waiting arms. There are no words that can fully describe how good Liara feels like this, her flushed skin hot under her hands, the inside of her thighs sticky against her pajamas, and Ashara drinks it in. There's nothing she enjoys more than making love joined with Liara, their passion shared in their thoughts, their bliss peaking together, but this has it's own delights. Keeping her desire under control lets her savor all of the little details of Liara's pleasure and she has no doubt that sooner or later, her wife will find a way to repay her.

Ashara leads her wife over to the couch, lying down there before gently pulling Lira on top of her so that her back is pressed again the human's chest. Shepard's arms wrap around her lover, one hand sliding beneath the necklace, stroking the soft swells of Liara's breasts.

"Mm, that was a great deal of fun," the asari purrs, pressing her head against Shepard's shoulder.

"I'm happy to hear it." She trails her other hand down, stroking her wife's inner thigh. "Of course, you sound like you're still coherent."

"I do, don't I?", Liara teases, turning her head and kissing the base of Ashara's throat. "I recall you promised to change that."

"Absolutely." She presses a firm kiss on the back of Liara's crest. "And I'm definitely a woman of my word."

"Indeed, you are…" Liara's voice trails off as Ashara begins running her tongue along the tips of the crest, sucking gently on one of them. Her wife leans back against her firm breasts and Shepard traces her hand along the inner scales between her thighs. They're still damp with her arousal and sensitive from her climax and Liara lets out a series of small whimpers, trying to maneuver Ashara's fingers onto her clit. She obliges her, but only lets them rest there while she reaches down with her free hand, yanking off her pajama bottoms, wanting to feel her wife against her bare skin.

She pushes a thigh up between Liara's legs, letting the asari grind against her. She does so eagerly, and as Liara presses her slick entrance against her, Shepard adds her hand to the equation, slowly stroking the shaft of her clit. "Jesus," she purrs huskily, her other hand cupping her wife's arching breast. "Do you know just how sexy you look like this? How incredible you feel against me?"

Liara's fingers clutch at her leg. "Do you want to show me?"

Ashara sees her wife's beautiful blue eyes start to swirl with blackness and feels the asari's mind press against hers. Her own desire is rising, the sensation of Liara's ass rubbing against her body and her wetness against her leg threatening to unravel her self-control, but she manages to say, "Not yet. I have a…" She takes a breath, letting her libido settle down, "A little more work to do here."

* * *

Liara reluctantly pulls back her thoughts, relaxing into Shepard's embrace and letting her wife resume her endeavors. She definitely wants to join before they're finished, but if Shepard plans to take her time getting there, she can hardly claim she isn't enjoying the journey.

Shepard's thigh pulls back and her strong fingers replace it, running over her entrance. The tips dip ever so slightly into her wetness and she groans, wanting them buried fully inside her. Slowly, Shepard spreads her open, two of her digits sliding in, and the pleasure causes Liara's hand to grip tightly the hard muscles of Ashara's thigh. She loves feeling Shepard inside her, the visceral sense of connection second only to the meld and as her wife probes, she lavishes kisses on the other hand draped across her breasts.

Her bondmate's fingers move deeper before withdrawing, dragging along her pulsing inner walls as they do, seeking out every place she loves to be touched. When Shepard is almost all of the way out, Liara groans, but then her wife pushes back in, repeating the pattern over and over until the asari finds herself teetering along the edge again, needing just a little stimulation on her clit to go over.

* * *

"Oh, Liara," Shepard whispers, able to read her wife's needful state like an open book, "I love when you feel like this. So hot. For me." Liara moans as Ashara thrusts, her ass grinding against her, and the human angles her fingers, letting the tips rub inside of the asari while their length presses against her clit. Liara whimpers, and Ashara runs her tongue over her neck. "Go ahead, my beloved. I want to feel it. Please." With the last word, she presses against a particularly sensitive spot inside Liara and she feels her come again, her inner walls pulsing delightfully around her. Fingers dig into her thigh hard enough to leave a mark and Shepard feels a surge of wetness between her own legs at the cries she's hearing.

When the shudders of pleasure subside, Liara flips over, panting gently in her arms. Shepard strokes the scaled textures along her back, but her wife isn't done yet. She presses her core down against Ashara's thigh, and the lustful look on her face, the need for a little bit more undoes the remnants of Shepard's patience. She kisses Liara hard, practically ripping off her own top and her wife's warm hands cover her breasts, palms rubbing against her aching nipples. The asari's eyes are turning black again, and this time Ashara has no interest in stopping her.

Desire fills Shepard's mind, her wife's love and lust merging with her own. Liara's thoughts are ragged and needful, her previous orgasms having made her even hotter. The asari reaches down, her fingers gliding across Ashara's folds while her mouth lavishes kisses on her breasts. She's so wet, wanting her wife so much, and Liara can feel it. Her digits go rapidly to Shepard's clit, and when she finds it, the shared jolt that runs through the former Spectre's entire body makes Liara's back arch, her lover riding her leg frantically. Shepard brings her own thumb up to stroke Liara, but the asari's trembling clit is so sensitive by now, even the echo of the touch so powerful, that she just rests it there, letting pressure and the bond do their work.

Ashara's so turned on that even though Liara's barely touched her, she's already close. The asari's fingers slide easily into her ready sex, her thumb tracing little circles around her clit and when she thrusts deep inside, Shepard comes hard. Her thighs close around her wife's hand, and Liara jerks above her, following her into another climax. Ashara's whole world fills with light, reduced to nothing but the gorgeous asari above her and the pleasure they're sharing.

Wisps of biotic energy play along Liara's body and she directs one of them through her finger, another pulse of pleasure coursing through Ashara's clit and a second climax crashes on top of the first one. Liara's mind and body respond blissfully, and their orgasms start to merge, one into the other, a tangle of motion and joy and light, a seemingly timeless wave of shared ecstasy.

No orgasm really lasts forever though, and as the pleasure recedes, Liara collapses on top of her, a look of utter contentment on her lovely face. Shepard plants a tender kiss on her forehead, and whispers, "Promise kept?" Liara can only nod weakly against her chest, placing a soft kiss on her breastbone before burying her face in her chest. Satisfied, Shepard musters up the coordination to unfasten the necklace and place it on the coffee table before sinking back down into the couch and the comfort of Liara's body.

The pleasant smell of warm spring air drifts in from an open window, and lying together, feeling the rise and fall of her wife's soft breasts on her chest, her blue skin lit by the glow of the tree lights, Shepard decides that they may have just found their first new Christmas tradition.

* * *

**Merry Christmas or other seasonal holiday. Hope you enjoyed this little diversion.**


End file.
